Rail fastener



Aug. 28,1923.

s. JOHNSON I RAIL FASTENER Filed Dec. 6, 1922 gwuantbz Patented Aug. 28, 1923.

unrrs s'rer ss iasaicoi PAIEI OFFICE;

SWAN JonnsoN, or nrcnwoon, wnsr VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF 'ro JULIA- ERLANDSON, or RIGHWOOD, wnsr VIRGINIA. r

I I RAIL rnsrnnnn.

Application filed December 6, 1922. Serial No. 605,196.

To all whom it may concern:

citizen of Sweden, residing at Richwood, in the county of Nicholas and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Fasteners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s. i i

ing rails to ties, and the general object of the invention is to provide a tie and rail engaging means so constructed that the rail is always held down upon the tie and prevented from movement without any danger of the engagement between the rail and tie becoming gradually released. I l A further object is to provide a construc tion of this character which. will automati cally take up wear and compensate for irregularities in the rails.

Another object is to provide a construc tion of this character from which the rails cannot work loose as they! do upon ordinary ties. i

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. t My iIlVIltlOIiiS illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein g Figure 1 is a longitudinal fragmentary sectional view ofa tie having my improved rail engaging means applied thereto;

F i re 2 is a like View to Figure 1 but showlng the locking wedge in section; F igure 3 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the wedge and the springs which resiliently urge it in one direction. I v

' Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the tie, which may be made of metal or any other suitable material, which is hollow, and

which is formed to provide a fiat bottom surface 11 and an upper wall 12. The tie is formed with openings 13 on each side of the space upon which the rail A is intended to rest. 7

Pivoted within the tie upon transverse shafts or equivalent'elements 14 are'the rail clamps 15.. Each tie may have any number of these rail clamps, Ihaveshown three of these clamps in Figure 3 and theoutside of the rail is engaged by two of these clamps, while the inside of'the rail is engaged by one of the clamps, thus giving a three-point his invention relates to means forfaste'n these clamps may be 'variedi' These clamps y en'gagementv Obviouslythe'arrangementof Be it known that I, SWAN JoHNsoN, a

are mounted upon the shafts 14 ei'therito v rotate therewith or to oscillate independ-f ently the'reoh'and the clamps are so'formed' as to provide for each clamp a nose 16 which engages over the rail and a tail 17 which, 7

extends downward through'the corresponding slot l8"and has its under face roundedf at 18. The under face of the nose 16 is also slightly rounded so that. no matter how 7 much the tail may be elevated the nose will always bear upon and have clamping en" j gagement with the base flange of the rail'A; Disposed within the tie 10 and movable longitudinally upon-the bottom wai11111 r the tie is a wedge 19, the upper face of this wedge being inclinedupwardand toward the middle of the tie and the under sides or I upper face of this wedge. I This wedge may the tails 17 of the rail clamps bear upon the be of metal or any, otherg'suitable materialj and is provided'with side walls and end walls. One of these end wa1ls'20'is perforated for thepassage of a rod 21 Extending longitudinally of the wedge are two guide rods 22 disposed one on each side of the rod 21, these guide rods being'held in position within the wedge by any suitable means as, for instance, thescrews or equivalent members 23. Surrounding'each rod is a coiled c'cmpressionspring 24:. There are two of these compression springs and those ends of the 'springstoward the outer end of the tie bear against the end .wall'20 of the wedge' "I Slidingly mounted upon each rod 22'is a thimble 25, thesexthimbles being connected I. by aweb 26 so that the thimbles will move together, and the rod 21is attached to this web 26. t Obviously 'when the rod 21 is pulled to the right in Figure 4,, it willcompress these springs. Theextremity of the rod is connected to a shack'le27 of any suitable character which is engaged over a ti ansverse ro df'or anchor 28 extending transversely through'the; tie adjacent theend thereof. It will beobvious, therefore, that the tendency of the springs 24 is to exert a constant push upon the wedge 19 toward the outer end of the tie and obviously as the wedge is pushed towardthe right in Figure" 2, the wedge-shaped upper face of the wedge will force the tails 17 of the clamps 15. upward'and, therefore, force the noses 16v down 'which is designated generally .29, This member has arelatively long, upwardly in- I clined nose 301, and .a. downwardly extending tail31,-i the,,under face o-fwhieh is rounded and which bears-against thelupperface of the wedge1 9. iThefnose extends upward bealrs. again'st the rail.- at the intersection ofitll llhead with the web-0t, therail, Obvi-' oulslyanyimovementof the wedge. 19. toward the'r ight inFigure,lnwillliftthe .tail 31 and tca isefl'the. nlosel 3,0, to. bear downward, forcing the rail 'eitheritO-wa-rdfthe left or resisting any thrust upon thera'il. This rail. .brace and clamp 29 will be dispos.ed, of course,

upon the outsidejoffthe railat curves so. as

' theltie. and this willwdrawz-the wedge over until thez 'clamps :1 are..engaged-and forcedto resistithe thrust 'exertedby. the train in turninga curve. "This rnember29 iscto-be "applied in connection with, the clamps-15,

i -In, applyinglmy.mechanism to. a. rail,: the l hook.27isidisconnected fromjtherod. 28. and

the wedge-forced inward .or toward .the. middle Otjthe lti'e'. "This, of course, will loosen the, rail: clamps v and permit a rail to 'berinsertedi beneathsaid clamps.

27 is "then idra'wn. toward. the. outer. end of againstjthe rail. A Eurther. stress placed upon the hook 127 will oauseifthe. compression; of

the springsffit and these springs :wilLre- I V V the upperface of the wed e v3. hollow railway tieahayingmpertures initsuppernwall, rail. clamps pivoted to said ,tie andihaving portions projeotingpthrongh main bender compression, resiliently urging theuweidgejil. toward; the. outervend of.,the rail. Thus, as jthefrail .wears orrotherwise 7 tends tolbecome" loosened, from the tie; the

" dangerv of the: raillbecoming. loose J by the "gradual withdrawal of spikes .or-. the di sengagement of" fastening-f deiziceslas there. ,is, at the present time. TVVith my construction the springs .wfiIl m se Tthe,,.movement of -the" we .dge, .whi ch furth'er'foree downthe noses -of the 'clamps upon the rail and. thus:

the rail will be held at all times in clamped engagement Withtheftie and there will :bemo

clamps are automatically tightened and a continuous; pressure; 1s exerted .upon' these clampsholdingthem tightly in engagement i withfl'fthe' rail. With regardlto the combined clamp, and :bracelf29, Jit is obvious that it will continually. exert; pressure-iupon the rail .in ajoontraryfdirectifon to that exerted by. the thrust of'a;passing. train. t

1 It @will j-beseenlthatithis I invention. .does

awaywiththe, necessityv of, s iking rails. to p p 1 clamps :downward. afgainst.. a"ra'ilflange.' 1

woodenties, with. alhthe. concomitant evils of spike;k'illecl1ties, loose-spikes, split ties and: the like, anddoes, away with! the neces- .sity. of continually rerspiking the ties. ",Fur-

hODk j thermore, it will be noted that the noses 16 of-the clamps engage overnea'rly the entire surface of the rail flanges, thus holding the rail much more securely than is possible where the spikemerely projects-over apertion- -of' the margin of 'the base flange and resisting tipping strains to an extent not "possible with spikes.

With an construction there is no possibility of the clamps accidentallybecoming disengaged from the railswithout positive breakage of the clamps The; clamps,

moreover, are; held from breakageby flthe cannot slip longitudinally in .a direction to l release. the, clamping action and positively fact that they operate within theeslofi thebodylof the tieslthems elves. .Thelwedge:

holds theolamps engaged. withjthe rail.

, thereof, as .itisobvious that-'Ithesefmight be;

varied in '.many .ways without departing from the spiritv of the inyention;

.. I claim movable wedge .mountedftherein, resilient and, rail clamps mountedlnpQn. theztie-land wedge in .its. urged. direction.

.2. A1 hollowrailwaytie, longitudinally movable .wedge .monnted ftherein, resilient means urging" the wedge 1n one direction, ra l clamps plvoted upon the tleand hav ng v n [1. A. hollow. railwayttigfa, longitudinally meansurging the wedge in :oneidirection,

noses engageable over: the fiangeslof, afrail, V

and tails extending. down land 5 engaged. :by

said apertures and? formed to. providelnoses' engageable overthc flanges of ayrail the clamps having downwardly and outwardly .extending tails, a wedgemountedsupowthe bottom wall of. the tie. and .againstWhieh' and meansffor placing, saidspring. under. tension.

.41. A hollow railway. tie, rail clamps;piyotally mounted upon the tie and'hayingdownwardly andoutwardly directed. tails. and;v a

wedging member -movable on the bottom wall of the tie, withthe upper face ofwhich V 7 the. tails, engage, and meanszior. resiliently urglng, said wed'glng member. in a direct on to cause .1tto wedge.agalnststhetalls of the clamps land force the other endsfofgthe 5.1a hollow 1 tie, rail 'clamps *pivotally;

clamps extend and each clamp having a nose adapted to rest upon the flange of a rail, a tail extending downwardly and laterally, a hollow wedge resting upon the lower wall of the tie and having its upper gaged with the tie.

6. A hollow tie, a rail clamp and brace pivotally mounted within the tie and having an upwardly extending nose extending through an aperture in the, tie and adapted to bear against a rail at the junction of the head with the web thereof, the clamp and brace having a downwardly and laterally extending tail, a wedge resting upon the lower wall. of the tie and hearing at its upper faceagainst the under face ,of said tail, and means for resiliently urging said wedge in a direction to cause the elevation of the tail and the depression of said nose. 7. In'a hollow railway tie, rail clamps pivotally mounted upon the tie, the tie having apertures through which the clamps pass, and means within the tie resiliently urging the outer ends of the clamps downward and toward the upper face'of the tie,

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature. V

SWAN JOHNSON. 

